#Tokyo Racecourse

Equinox, guided by Christophe Lemaire, wins the Arima Kinen on December 25, 2022, at Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. (KYODO) Equinox triumphed in two of Japan's biggest horse races in 2022, and those Grade 1 victories helped him garner a pair of prestigious accolades. The Japan Racing Association named Equinox its 2022 Horse of…

Essential Quality, shown winning the Grade I Travers, is among the favorites in a Breeders' Cup Classic field announced this week. Photo courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 29 (UPI) -- It's a week for looking forward as horse racing around the globe nears its annual champion-making events and youngsters get in final licks to make a case…

A 5-year-old mare who was a Group 1 winnerlast spring in Hong Kong may be the best hope for a Japan-based horse to breakthrough for the first time ever in the Breeders' Cup. Loves Only You, who has amassed $5453602 inpurse earnings with a record of 14: 6-2-3, is expected to lead seven horsesbeing shipped from Japan to the Nov. 5 and 6 championships…

This is "last call" weekend for Breeders' Cup hopefuls with more than a dozen "Win and You're In" races spread across three U.S. tracks. It's also Arc weekend in Paris and Winx seeks her 28th straight win in Australia. There's even more, with important 2-year-old races in Canada and the Group 1 Sun Chariot in England. Twenty-eight straight wins? It…

Cheval Grand, shown winning the 2017 Japan Cup, returns seeking a repeat victory in Sunday's renewal. Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Weekend horse racing action stretches from Tokyo to Bahrain with a stop in England and a quick look at Hong Kong's preparations for its big weekend two weeks down the calendar. The Grade 1…

Cyberknife, shown winning the Arkansas Derby, tops the list of invitations to the Grade I Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Kentucky Derby preps in California and New York highlight the weekend horse racing schedule with plenty of would-be stars looking for a big step…

Maximum Security, the colt disqualified from victory in the Kentucky Derby, returns to the winner's circle Saturday at Belmont Park. Photo courtesy of New York Racing Association Oct. 28 (UPI) -- It was a very good weekend of horse racing for Japan as Lys Gracieux landed the Group 1 Cox Plate in Australia and Almond Eye returned to her dominant…

Almond Eye, shown winning the 2018 Japan Cup, is the favorite for Sunday's Grade 1 Tenno Sho (Autumn). Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association Oct. 30 (UPI) -- American horse racing is virtually on pause a week out from the Breeders' Cup World Championships, but plenty of action exists around the globe with Almond Eye returning in Japan,…

Letruska edges Monomoy Girl in Saturday's $1 million Grade I Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park. Photo by Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park April 19 (UPI) -- Million-dollar races at Oaklawn Park produced a big upset and a potential star for the remainder of the year in highlights of horse racing this weekend. The Kentucky Derby field continued…

California Spangle, seen at trackwork Dec. 7, tackles champion Golden Sixty and some tough foreign competition in Sunday's Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club HONG KONG, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The Longines Hong Kong International Races take center stage in weekend horse racing, with competition from around the globe…

Jockey John Velazquez, riding Authentic, celebrates winning the Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday. Photo by John Sommers II/UPI | License Photo Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Breeders' Cup World Championships, just as they were designed to do, nicely wrapped up some issues for the 2020 racing season, including the "Horse of the…

Down On Da Bayou blitzes her rivals in Thursday's UAE Oaks at Meydan, and now is headed for the Saudi Derby. Photo by Erika Rasmussen, courtesy of Dubai Racing Club Feb. 21 (UPI) Weekend horse racing features a dash of Kentucky Derby, Saudi Derby, Hong Kong Derby, Qatar Derby and even the Winter Derby with action from the Far East to the Middle…

It was an amazing finish to an extraordinary career. A storybook finish, a finish that seemed predestined to happen as the year marched on. And when the favorite Almond Eye, guided with supreme confidence by the brilliant Gallic equine conductor Christophe Lemaire, stormed past a field of 14 other horses in the 40th Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on…

Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine changed the storyline on a glorious Saturday afternoon in Southern California. Jockey Yuga Kawada, one of the premier riders on the Japan Racing Association circuit (currently No. 2 in wins and overall earnings in 2021, trailing only Christophe Lemaire in both categories) guided 5-year-old Loves Only You, the…

Almond Eye, ridden by French jockey Christophe Lemaire, established a Japan Racing Association record with an eighth Grade I victory on Sunday, November 1. The 5-year-old mare, who has 10 wins in 14 career races, captured the Tenno Sho (Autumn) crown for the second straight year, doing so in electrifying fashion at Tokyo Racecourse. The fifth…

Danon Beluga (right), one of Heart's Cry's offspring, competes in the G3 Kyodo News Hai (Tokinominoru Kinen) at Tokyo Racecourse on February 13. (ⒸSANKEI) This article first appeared on SportsLook, JAPAN Forward's dedicated sports website. It's easy to forget most horse race results due to the bevy of activity and busy year-round schedules at…

The Japan Cup, first held in 1981, is one of the biggest days of horse racing in the country. In addition to drawing an international field of runners, Sunday's race also comes with the added bonus of being held in Tokyo, the nation's capital. Getting to Tokyo Racecourse is a cinch. The Keio Line train goes there from Shinjuku Station in 30…

Six horses have won the filly Triple Crown in Japanese racing history, with Daring Tact the latest to accomplish the feat on Sunday, October 18 at Kyoto Racecourse. Daring Tact's victory in the Shuka Sho, the third leg of the Triple Crown, produced another distinct, too. She became the first unbeaten horse to do so. In the 2000-meter Shuka Sho,…

In the speedy showcase for 3-year-olds, fourth favorite Danon Scorpion, who entered the 18-horse competition in the No. 18 post position was ready for the challenge in crunch time. The Lord Kanaloa-sired bay colt galloped past favorite Serifos under Yuichi Fukunaga with around 100 meters remaining and held on for a victory by a neck's length over…

The Yokoyama family's success in high-profile races was also in the spotlight just a few months ago. At last year's Tenno Sho (Autumn), Takeshi Yokoyama, Kazuo's younger brother, won the October 31 race by a length over Contrail at Tokyo Racecourse. Bursting out of the 16 gate aboard second favorite 4-year-old bay colt Titleholder, Yokoyama led…

Sconsin, shown winning the 2021 Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs, tries for a repeat in the Memorial Day renewal. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs May 27 (UPI) -- The long Memorial Day weekend is not short on racing action with two "Win and You're In" events, one in California amid a flurry on Grade I races and the other in Chile. The…

Rich Strike, seen posing the morning after his Kentucky Derby win, returns in Saturday's Grade I Clark Stakes with a chance to stake a claim for year-end honors. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs Nov. 25 (UPI) -- It's getting to be crunch time for horses who seek year-end honors, and this weekend's Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs provides one of…

Since 2000, 16 UAE Derby alums have come to the US for their shot at the Kentucky Derby winner's circle and a blanket of roses. That group included trendy dark-horse picks like Mubtaahij in 2015 and Mendelssohn in 2018, two horses who drew plenty of money on Derby Day. Mubtaahij went off at 14.40/1, not in the neighborhood of favorite (and winner)…

View the results and replay for the 2022 Japan Cup. The Japan Cup was raced at Tokyo racecourse on Sunday, 27 November 2022. Have Your Say 🗣: What did you think of the race? Comment below 👇 *Existing customers only. 2nd Racing bet. Excl SA & WA. T's & C's apply. Gamble responsibly.

Churchill Downs' Barn Notes: Proxy Gets Big Speed Figure After G1 Clark Win (Proxy / Photos by Holly M. Smith) From the Churchill Downs' Media Team: Godolphin's talented 4-year-old colt Proxy earned his first career stakes victory Friday with his determined three-quarters of a length win in the $750000 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade…

Ikezoe credited trainer Toru Hayashi and other support staff for putting Songline, who entered the race from stall No. 13, in position to contend for a victory on Sunday. "It was a tight schedule for the filly but the staff at the stables prepared her remarkably," he told reporters. "She broke well and I decided to settle her behind Salios, who…

May 20 (UPI) -- The Preakness, even without Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, is the marquee event in weekend horse racing, but by no means the only top-shelf event on the schedule. Pimlico Race Course provides an impressive supporting program on Friday and Saturday. Churchill Downs and Monmouth Park add to the mix. On the international front,…

With Japan's top international race taking place at the weekend, Nicholas Godfrey looks at the task facing overseas runners in Tokyo - and traces the nation's emergence as a racing superpower One of the world's foremost international races takes place on Sunday [Nov 27] with the 42nd edition of the Japan Cup at Tokyo racecourse, the Japan Racing…

Havnameltdown wins Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar. Benoit photo, courtesy of Del Mar Turf Club Nov. 21 (UPI) -- One of the more interesting subplots of late-year racing is the emergence of late-blooming 2-year-olds and Del Mar's weekend program featured two of those -- Havnameltdown among the colts and Justique in the filly…

The Japan Cup takes centre stage internationally next Sunday and while the race - worth a cool £2.5 million to the winner - has not gone to a horse trained outside Japan since 2005, that hasn't deterred connections of four European runners from making the journey, the biggest contingent in a decade. And there are reasons for hope of a breakthrough,…

This Sunday, Nov. 28, Tokyo Racecourse hosts the Grade 1 Japan Cup, the iconic invitational gala that has been instrumental in boosting Japan's horses and horsemen to the heights of international competitiveness they now enjoy. Some JPY 648 million, over USD 6 million, is up for grabs. Japan's horses have monopolized the winner's circle for the…

For Geraldina's trainer Takashi Saito, it was his seventh career G1 victory. Four-year-old Geraldina, who was assigned the 18th post on the far outside, moved toward the front of the pack late in the race and galloped to the wire from the middle of the turf track. (Watch the race here.) The winning jockey's older brother, 43-year-old Mirco Demuro,…

Dubai World Cup day is Saturday, March 25, and it's an event that racing fans from around the globe look forward to each spring, with $29 million up for grabs across eight races that attract some of the best Thoroughbreds worldwide. Like the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Dubai World Cup races have varied distances, surfaces and purse value.…

Pappacap (green silks), shown finishing second to Corniche in the Breeders' Cup Classic, is among the favorites for Saturday's Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, a 50-point qualifier for the Kentucky Derby. Photo by John Voorhees, Eclipse Sportswire, courtesy of Breeders' Cup Feb. 18 (UPI) -- This is the weekend when we find out if a few highly…

For Tanabe, 38, Sunday's triumph was his first in a G1 race since piloting Logotype to a win in the 2016 Yasuda Kinen. It was his third career G1 victory. (Watch the race here.) Tanabe and trainer Yasuhito Tamura teamed up for their first G1 win together. For the trainer, it was his third G1 victory and his first since Major Emblem won the 2016 NHK…

Race 5: 1 3/16ths, 1900m (Dirt), UAE Derby (G2), Purse $1 Million, 3 (Saturday) There are many paths to the 148th Kentucky Derby, but they are dwindling as we head towards April. The Dubai World Cup Carnival is a "last ditch" opportunity, especially for international runners. Specifically, the Group 2 UAE Derby represents one of the last…